Field of the Inventive Concepts
The inventive concepts disclosed herein pertain generally to the field of aircraft display units that present information to the pilot of an aircraft.
Description of the Related Art
Long landings and subsequent runway overruns have been a safety concern in aviation and an area of recent attention. This issued was discussed in a March 2012 article published by Boeing, Inc. and entitled “Reducing Runway Landing Overruns.” Using Boeing event data analyzed collectively from 2003 to 2010, Boeing has recognized numerous contributors to runway overruns: sixty-eight percent occurred after stable approaches, fifty-five percent touched down within the touchdown zone, ninety percent landed on an other-than-dry runway, and forty-two percent landed with a tailwind of five knots or greater. During an approach-to-touchdown phase, contributors include tailwinds and approaches that are too high or too fast; during a touchdown phase, contributors include long landings and high touchdown speeds; and during a deceleration phase, contributors include thrust reverser levels that are too low or have been reduced too soon, limited surface friction or runway contamination, thrust reversers that have been deployed too late or not deployed at all, speed brakes that have been deployed too late or not deployed at all, and low auto brake settings.
Boeing recommended that airlines consider modifying their approach and landing procedures to incorporate runway safety recommendations. These include calculating the required amount of runway length using real-time information, calculating a landing distance (LD) using real-time aircraft and actual runway data, determining a go-around point, and adding a thrust reverser callout. In addition, Boeing discussed new safety technologies targeted at runway overrun prevention through approach planning, approach, touchdown, and deceleration. During approach planning, flight deck tools and procedures assist the flight crew in determining the required runway length and where on the runway the aircraft is expected to stop given certain conditions. In fact, Boeing offers an LD calculator on electronic flight bags, augmenting this existing technology by adding a more effective way to display this information to the flight crew. By graphically depicting a dry and contaminated stopping location during approach planning, the flight crew can assess its risk of runway overrun before touchdown and possess an option of manually entering a reference line that could be a land and hold short line operation, a taxiway exit, or a desired touchdown or go-around point.
Advanced flight deck enhancements have been developed for the head-up display, vertical situation display, onboard performance tools and runway awareness and advisory systems. Encouraged by the aviation community, enhancements continue to be developed to improve the flight crew's situational awareness during the approach, touchdown, and deceleration phase of flight.